ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) is set to hear Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan’s contempt of court case on Monday (today).
The IHC in August had constituted a larger bench to initiate contempt of court proceedings against the former premier for “threatening” Additional Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry during his speech in Islamabad.
In an affidavit submitted to the court two days ago, the PTI chief had assured the court that he would never do anything in the future that would hurt the dignity of any court and the judiciary, especially the lower judiciary.
Imran had also said that he will fully follow what he said before the court in the last hearing, and added that he was ready to take further action to satisfy the court in this regard.
The deposed premier further said that he was “willing to apologize” if the judge thought that he crossed a “red line”.
Three days earlier, Imran had also appeared before an Islamabad lower court to personally apologise to Additional District and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry, who was not present there at the time.
A larger bench consisting of five judges is to hear the case today. As IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah heads the proceedings, the bench will also include Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Babar Sattar.
As the court is expected to announce its verdict after proceedings today, strict security arrangements have been put into place. Lawyers, legal officers and journalists will be allowed to enter the courtroom on an entry pass issued by the Registrar’s Office.
It may also be noted that the judicial bench had declared Imran’s apology statement satisfactory in the previous hearing.
Nonetheless, in a new affidavit submitted upon court orders, Imran has refrained from offering an unconditional apology while assuring the court that he will ensure the implementation of the statement he gave in court and that he would avoid making such statements in the future.
